Ukraine says Moscow agrees to release pilot Savchenko

Vladimir Putin has agreed to release jailed Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Tuesday, indicating that she could be swapped for two Russians who were sentenced Monday for crimes in east Ukraine.

Poroshenko and the Russian president discussed the case by phone Monday evening, Associated Press reported, the same day a court in Kiev found two alleged Russian soldiers guilty of taking part in an “aggressive war” in east Ukraine, sentencing each to 14 years in prison.

Poroshenko told reporters in Kiev there was a possibility of swapping the two Russians for Savchenko, who was sentenced to 22 years jail by a Russian court in March for allegedly killing two Russian reporters in east Ukraine. The Ukrainian president said the verdict against the Russians “gives opportunities to launch the mechanism of a swap.”

“It seems to me that we were able to agree on a specific algorithm of [Savchenko’s] release,” he said of the conversation with Putin, without elaborating.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Tuesday that Putin and Poroshenko had discussed the Savchenko case, but did not say if any decision was reached on her fate.

Poroshenko tweeted Tuesday that he had convinced Savchenko to end the hunger strike she launched on April 6.

“Together with … Savchenko’s mother Maria Ivanovna and her sister Vera, I asked Nadiya to stop the hunger strike. Thank you for agreeing,” Poroshenko tweeted, adding #FreeSavchenko at the end.

Interfax reported Poroshenko also briefed Savchenko on his phone conversation with Putin and informed her of the steps being taken to release her.